Were They Happy? Lyrics

(chorus) Were they happy, or just smiling, in the tattered photograph?
Were they standing on a landing leading up or leading down?
Was his arm around her shoulders, or just balancing his weight?
Along the water in Savannah, what a beautiful old town.

I watched them walking down the waterfront together
I'd followed them, behind, for several miles.
Pappy taught me how to make a rose,
A palm frond and a razor blade,
I'm pretty good at sniffing out a smile--
(chorus)

She'd go into a store and he would stand outside alone,
Ioffered him a rose, he only shook his head;
I said he could just have it then (that always does the trick),
And made a second with the razor blade--
(chorus)

I took their photo, but they ran away
(I found a Polaroid camera once along the bank),
The picture came out perfect; I keep it in my box--
Every bedroom needs a little decoration.
(chorus)

I like to sit alone and watch the river,
The traffic on the arching bridge upstream,
Heading north, to South Carolina,
The people come and going in my dream.
(chorus and end)